Knitting method

ABSTRACT

The invention discloses a method of forming a margin for a piece of plain knitted fabric formed on a knitting machine having two opposed needle beds, a part of the margin being formed on each bed with loops knitted between the beds at locations spaced from the outer edge of the fabric, the loops losing otherwise U-shaped knitted courses.

United States Patent 1151 1111 3,808,841 [451- May 7,1974

Betts et a1.

[ KNITTING METHOD 3,451,230 3/1967 Monk 66/64 1,652,183 12/1927 Piscitello et al. 66/172 [751 lnvemms: t (f ti g? Fran 1,526,420 2 1925 Hinchliff 66/196 x 0 mson, reas on, 0 England FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Assignee: c m ld L d Q France England Primary Examiner-Ronald Feldbaum [22] Flled 1973 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Davis, Hoxie, Faithful] & [21] Appl. No.: 341,851 HaPgOOd [30] Foreign Application Priority Data [57] ABSTRACT Mar. 15, 1972 Great Britain 11968/72 1 The mventlon dlscloses a method of formmg a margm 52 us. c1, 66/172 R, 66/173 8 Piece 0f Plain knitted fabric fOYmed on knitting [51] lnt. Cl D04b 9/46 2 machine having opposed needle beds a part of 5 Field o Search /172 4 196 200 1,73 the margin being formed on each bed with loops knitted between the beds at locations spaced from the [56] References Cited v onter edge of the fabric, the loops losing otherwise U- UNITED STATES PATENTS shaped knitted courses.

3,381,325 1/197l Betts et a1 66/129 2 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure 3 f I I I f I 6 2 KNITTING METHOD This invention relates to the knitting of single knit jersey fabric and is concerned with the provision of a trimming for a margin of such fabric which reduces the tendency of the fabric to curl at the edge where the trimming is provided.

According to the present invention, a method of forming a margin for a piece of plain knitted fabric formed on a knitting machine having two opposed needle beds wherein the plain knitted fabric is knitted on needles of one of the two needle beds and'the margin is knitted on needles of both needle beds, the method comprising the steps of knitting U-shaped courses to form the said margin, part of each course beingon one of the needle beds and part on the other needle bed, and, in some courses at least, during knitting on needles of one needle bed of one part of the said margin, joining the said one part to the part of the margin held on needles of the other needle bed byoperating a needle of the other needle bed to rise and take into its hook, without casting off the loop held there, the same yarn as is supplied to the needles of the said one needle bed, the join being made adjacent the end of a U-shaped course remote from the closed end of the U-shape.

The invention includes knitted fabric having at least one margin produced by the method just described and also includes garments incorporating such fabric.

The joining operation may be carried out in every course, in alternate'courses, or less frequently.

The invention will be further described, by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing in which the single FIGURE is a diagrammatic representation of parts .of the needle beds of a V-bed knitting machine carrying a plain knitted fabric produced according to the method of the invention. The number of knitted loops shown in the drawing is purely illustrative and in knitting an actual fabric more loops could be in- The needle 1' in the needle bed 2 is programmed to engage the cams during the knitting of the part 5 of the double-thickness margin 6 so that this needle is raised to a height at which it takes in its hook the same yarn as is presented to and taken by the books of the needles 3 of the bed 4. The needle 1 is however, raised only to tuck height, that is, not far enough to cause the loop already held in its hook to ride over the latch into the shank of the needle. Thus a tuck loop 7 is formed joining the part 5 of the margin 6 on the bed 4 to the part operating the needle 1" or the needle 1" to take the yarn also presented to needles 3. A tuck loop 11 formed on the needle 1" is shown in broken lines in the drawing.

After formation of the U-shaped course and tuck loop 7 shown in the drawing, the knitting cams of the machine are operated to knit along the needles 3 in the direction from left to right in the drawing and then along the needles 1 in the direction from right to left in the drawing, thus forming another U-shaped marginal course'at the edge of the piece of plain knitted fabric 13.

The needle 1' may be operated again in the second course to take a tuck loop between the loops formed on needles 3' and 3". A third U- shaped course is then formed knitting in the opposite direction to that adopted in the second course, a fourth course is knitted in the reverse direction and so on to form amargin to the fabric which is U-shaped in cross-section.

Tuck loops between the parts of the U-shaped margin on opposite beds may be formed in every course, in every alternate course or less frequently. The tuck loops may be formed on a needle of the bed 4 (eg needle 3") during knitting of the part 8 on the bed 2rather than on a needle of the bed 2 during knitting of the part 5, as illustratedfThe tuck loops in one piece of fabric need not always be formed betweenthe loops on the same pair of needles.

A fabric margin according tothe invention can also be formed by knitting on both beds simultaneously at the margin, supplying yarn from a separate yarn supply to the needles of each bed. At the end 10 of the fabric,

- the yarn supplies are crossed over so that yarn from the supply previously used to supply needles 3 is, on the next traverse of the needle beds by the cam boxes supplied to the needles 1 and yarn from the supply previously used to supply the needles 1 is used to supply the needles 3. In this way, U-shaped courses are formed at the margin of the fabric, the closed end 10 of the ',U- shape being as shown in the drawing, at the edge of the fabric, but the knitting of the fabric is speeded up because both legs of each U-shaped course are knitted at the same time. The knitting operation of the needle, for example the needle 1', which is to take the tuck loop is arranged to be in advance of the knitting operation on the opposite needles, in this case 3 and 3", so that the needle taking the tuck loop has completed its knitting operation before it must be raised once more to tuck height to take the loop 7.

The fabric may be formed with a margin,in theman-f ner described,at both edges.

What is claimed is: 1. In a method of forming a margin for a piece of plain knitted fabric formed on a knitting machine havdle beds, the improvement comprising knitting U- shaped courses to form said margin, part of each course being on one of the needle beds and part on the other needle bed so as to form part of the margin on one needle bed and part on the other,. and in at least some of the U-shaped courses during knitting of the part of the margin on one needle bed, joining said part of the margin to the part of the margin held on needles of the other needle bed by operating a needle of said other needle to rise and take into its hook, without casting off the loop held there, the same yarn as is supplied to'the needles of said one needle bed, the join being made adjacent the end of a U-shaped course remote from the closed end of the U-shape.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising the steps of supplying yarnfrom a separate yarn supply yarn supply previously supplying one needle bed supplies the other needle bed and the yarn previously supplying said other needle bed supplies said one nee-v dle bed. 

1. In a method of forming a margin for a piece of plain knitted fabric formed on a knitting machine having two opposed needle beds, wherein the plain knitted fabric is knitted on needles of one of the two needle beds and the margin is knitted on needles of both needle beds, the improvement comprising knitting U-shaped courses to form said margin, part of each course being on one of the needle beds and part on the other needle bed so as to form part of the margin on one needle bed and part on the other, and in at least some of the U-shaped courses during knitting of the part of the margin on one needle bed, joining said part of the margin to the part of the margin held on needles of the other needle bed by operating a needle of said other needle to rise and take into its hook, without casting off the loop held there, the same yarn as is supplied to the needles of said one needle bed, the join being made adjacent the end of a U-shaped course remote from the closed end of the U-shape.
 2. A method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising the steps of supplying yarn from a separate yarn supply to each needle bed, knitting on both needle beds simultaneously when forming said margin, and at the closed end of each U-shaped course crossing the yarn from each yarn supply over to supply the opposite needle bed so that on the next traverse of the needle beds the yarn supply previously supplying one needle bed supplies the other needle bed and the yarn previously supplying said other needle bed supplies said one needle bed. 